GAME NOTES: In a battle of Big 5 rivals, the Temple Owls clash with the Saint Joseph's Hawks at Hagan Arena on Wednesday evening.

This cross-town rivalry has produced some absolute classics over the years, especially when both teams competed twice a season as Atlantic 10 Conference foes. However, Temple's 77-69 win last season came in a non-league affair, as the Owls made the move to the American Athletic Conference. Temple has won 11 of the last 13 meetings, and leads the all-time series, 89-67.

Temple brings a 4-2 record into this contest, thanks to consecutive home wins over Penn (76-67) and Long Island (70-56). The Owls have yet to play a true road game, with this being their first. They will go up against another Big 5 squad on Saturday, when they tangle with the La Salle Explorers at The Palestra.

Saint Joseph's is returning home after a stint in the NIT Season Tip-Off. The Hawks were defeated by Western Kentucky, 62-59, on Thanksgiving as part of the tournament, and they have been idle since. They are 3-3 on the campaign, with a 2-1 mark at home. They will play a Big 5 school in their next contest as well, with a road date against nationally-ranked Villanova set for Saturday.

In its win over LIU, Temple only connected on 38.8 percent of its total shots, including a paltry 4-of-26 effort from beyond the arc. The cold shooting didn't hurt the Owls, however, as they only turned the ball over four times, while holding the Blackbirds to 34.4 percent field goal accuracy. Quenton DeCosey struggled his way to 15 points to lead the way, doing so on 5-of-16 shooting from the floor. Jaylen Bond had a nice game off the bench, with 11 points and 13 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive glass.

Don't let the 4-2 record fool you, Temple has been absolutely dreadful offensively this season. They are shooting a dismal 35.4 percent from the field overall, while managing only 62 points per game. They are also averaging fewer than 10 assists per game. Luckily, they have been solid on defense, letting up a mere 61 points per game on a 38.2 percent success rate. Will Cummings (15.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 3.3 apg) and DeCosey (12 ppg) are the top scoring threats for the squad, but they are two of four starters connecting on less than 40 percent of their shots.

The Hawks clung to a 54-52 lead with just under three minutes to play against Western Kentucky, but the lead would not hold up as they let up a 6-0 spurt in the next two minutes and could never recover. They really hurt themselves by failing to take advantage of their free-throws, making only 6-of-15 attempts at the charity stripe. DeAndre' Bembry finished with a game-high 23 points in the losing effort.

It many not seem possible, but Saint Joseph's (58.7 ppg) is actually scoring at an even poorer rate than Temple, despite connecting on a better percentage of their shots from the field (.380), not that that percentage is anything to brag about. Bembry (14.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.2 apg) does it all for the Hawks, while Aaron Brown (11.2 ppg) is the team's only other double-digit scorer.

This game promises to be a low-scoring one, with each team using as much of the shot clock as possible. Bembry is easily the best player in this matchup and that may be the difference.